France

Alliancing contracts are not widely used within the construction industry in France. The reason behind that is not apparent. Strategic alliances are well known in other industries such as air transport and software engineering to pool abilities, knowledge, know-how, processes, protocols and technologies, thus establishing joint partnerships and closer cooperation to strengthen and develop their position. Examples include Air France and Tunis Air for the increased development of French-Tunisian air routes (1999); CSC France and Sophis to reinforce their offer in software packages for financial institutions (2002); Total and Petrobras to reinforce their cooperation in the Brazilian upstream and downstream sectors (2016); and BNP Paris Real Estate and m3 Real Estate in Switzerland (2018).

There is an increasing development of complex construction and infrastructure projects in France. For instance, the offshore wind power sector, which is currently developing is highly dynamic and its projects are characterised by uncertainty and complexity. Implementing the alliancing approach to that type of project could be beneficial. It would also be a good fit for other complex projects in the engineering and construction industry. France may be currently witnessing, although timidly, the early stages of an adoption of this method of contracting by the construction industry.